Atlas (World)
Atlas (Ross 126 II) is a colonised Garden World in the Old Reach sector. The first settlement (originally called Isis) was founded by the UOE in the early 23rd century, although this colony has since gained independence. Five years later the Holy Russian Empire established a colony to exploit several large mineral deposits. A Japanese colony was founded in 2318 and this has become one of the fastest growing colonies in the Old Reaches. Most recently the Islamic Republic of Persia has announced that it is planning on establishing its second extra-solar colony on Atlas. Planetary Data Atas is a very dry world, to the point where it almost fails to qualify as a Garden world. Water covers just 38% of the planets surface leaving large areas dry and barren, although there is a substantial water table which help support life a considerable distance from the smaller bodies of water. The largest single body of water is the Thebes Sea which covers just over thirty million square kilometres. The next largest body, the Iseum Sea, is around half this size. Flora and Fauna Around two and a half million years ago (+/- 20'000 years) Atlas experienced a major extinction event. Fossil records show that approximately 93% of all animal species and 76% of all plant species disappeared from the planet in just a few thousand years. Scientists believe that this event was caused when tectonic activity in the north of the planet released billions of tons of sulfur and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere driving major climate change including a huge spike in the acidity of the oceans. It is estimated that CO2 levels in the atmosphere peaked at 850 parts per million before slowly declining in the followng centuries. The main result of this event is that Atlas has a very small ecosystem. To date only 12'950 animal species have been positively identified, the bulk of these being arthropods. The largest land animals are mammals which fall into just four families totalling twenty eight confirmed species, with another fifty or so sub-species. The largest predator is the Ugly Dog or Malbela Hundo (Canis repulsa), a pack-dwelling animal which can reach the size of a wolf. The ugly dog gains its name from a series of bony nodules on the creatures neck and shoulders. These nodules are brightly coloured in a variety of shades of red and green whilst the skin has a yellow tint to it. From a distance it appears that the creature is covered in infected welts and boils. The creature other unappealing characteristics are its naked, rat-like tail and its vocal calls which resemble screams, yelps and high pitched whining. Despite its appearance and name the ugly dog is not a major threat to either humans or livestock. Ugly dogs track their prey primarily by scent and they do not appear to recognise either humans or none-native animals as possible food. There have been only five confirmed attacks on humans by ugly dogs, and in all but one case the animals were simply defending their young. Witnesses have also confirmed that ugly dogs will often totally ignore sheep or cattle, even young or sick individuals, and they will not even eat the carrior of such creatures unless it has become extremely putrified. There have been attempts to domesticate the ugly dog but these generally fail since, without fellow pack members, individual dogs become too timid and antisocial. A more dangerous threat comes in the shape of several members of the Megapede family. These large invertebrates resemble slightly flattened millipedes or centipedes with long segmented bodies each possessing a pair of legs. Most species of megapede are harmless, living in the detritus on forest floors and eating fallen fruit or fungus. Several species however have evolved poisonous bite. One species, the behemoth megapede, can grow up to 80cm in length with a body width of 7-8cm and fills a similar ecological niche as snakes. The bite of the behemoth carries a deadly neurotoxin and even though an anti-venom has been produced there are between twelve and fifteen recorded deaths a year. The smaller (50-60cm) Green-headed megapede lacks venom but the design of its mouth piece means that any bites are ragged and painful. Population Breakdown 48.7 million - Independent Colony 47%, Holy Russian Empire 45%, Japan 8%. The Perdis In 2354 an joint Atlas-US archeological dig north of the Thebes Sea uncovered the fossil remains of a species of primate. The remains numbered fifteen individuals who had been trapped in by a cave approximately a thousand years before the global extinction event. Once the site had been fully explored and the skeletons had been reconstructed the team made the announcement that they believed that this species was as intelligent as several species of early hominid such as Australopithecus afarensis. Named the Perdis, or Lost, this species stood upright and was around 1.2m tall (although it was somewhat bow-legged) and had opposable thumbs. The brain capacity was around 460cc, just under half that of a modern human and around the same as a chimpanzee. No evidence of tool construction has yet been uncovered but the Perdis did use foliage to construct nest-like beds in the caves where they dwelt and there is evidence that they used stones to break open both nuts and the shells of large snails and also possibly sticks to dig up tubers and roots. There are no indications that the Perdis used fire or made clothing, nor has anything considered art been discovered. Since the initial discovery a number of other specimens have been found, all within a 100km radius of the initial find, although none were as complete as the original examples. All evidence points to the fact that the Perdis were wiped out by the global extinction event Category:Colony Worlds Category:Garden Worlds Category:The Old Reach